The Silent Fool
by Dragon Scales 13
Summary: Garet, left alone in a precious few seconds of solitude, reflects on his treatment and place in the combined group of Felix and Isaac... Onesided GJ As of now... NOT FOR GARET BASHERS! See inside for details. There's a method to my madness...
1. A Penny for Your Insults?

**_                                    The Silent Fool_**

**_Summary: Garet, left alone in a precious few seconds of solitude, reflects on his treatment and place in the combined group of Felix and Isaac... One-sided G/J_**

_**AN: This is not for those who dislike Garet! Turn back now! Some slight OOC ness, but within boundaries. See the very end for explanation. **_

**_                        Chapter One: Penny For Your Insults?_**

_It seems as if everyone has their place here: Mia and Picard are kind adepts and peacemakers, Sheba and I are the smart ones, Isaac and Felix are the warring leaders, Jenna is the super hot-tempered love interest of Isaac and Garet... is the clown and ditz. Where does he fit in with all of this? Sure, he's strong, but so is Picard and he isn't a clown. Exactly what is Garet's purpose?_

A thought from Ivan

_I just don't understand why Garet belongs here. I don't really feel as if he belongs in a group destined to save the world. I know it's harsh, but what could he do when we've got Jenna and Picard? Why is he still here?_

A troubled thought from Mia

_In a way, I feel bad for Garet. It's like everyone else tolerates him except Isaac and Jenna. Isaac is his best friend and Jenna... Huh. I don't know what Garet feels toward Jenna. According to Isaac, they used to be close, but drifted soon after he found her. Odd._

Curious Thought from Sheba

_I looked forward to meeting the Great Garet of Vale. Many stories tell of his powerful fire-magic and valor in battle. However, as we joined forces with the others, Garet seemed to be the laughingstock, no matter how many times he disproved it. I should try harder to be his friend, like Isaac._

Pondering by Picard

_Garet's my best friend. He's the greatest buddy you could ever have, be it in battle or when you're down. I wouldn't give up Garet for the world._

A piece of Isaac's thoughts

_Garet's such a stubborn guy! No matter how many times I yell at him, he just getting back up and doing them again! Fool men and their hard heads! Well, except for Isaac. He has a hard head, but he is wise. Why can't Garet be more like his best friend? Still, I do worry about him. I guess I am a little harsh on him..._

A mental thought from Jenna

_I do have a certain degree of respect for Garet. He was a nice and loyal guy, no matter how rough things got. He even puts up with Jenna'' constant taunting with a grin on his face. I'm disappointed that he never told Jenna what he really felt, but... There's only so much even the nicest guy can take before he snaps._

Mindset of Felix

_There you go! Chapter one! Yes, I do realize that I've made the characters extremely mean, but it will all have a purpose later on. You'll get to see them feel sorry for their snide remarks when something... happens. Also, we'll have some thoughts from Garet when he gets a moment alone! R and R! (In desperate need of a better title!)_


	2. Requiem

**_The Silent Fool_**

AN: Thanks for the review, liament! (I'm sure I spelled that wrong...) It's good to know that someone thought I was getting a nice start.

_AN: Okay, people! This is the MEAT of the story! (And a long meat, too.) Garet will lament and angst till his hair falls out!!! Enjoy!_

_Chapter Two: Requiem_

**Garet's POV**

"Hi Garet," said Picard with a cheery wave, "Care to join Isaac and I in the great hunt for fire wood?"

Isaac laughed. "We'll need your "fire power" to get them!"

Garet laughed too, deep tone ringing in fake jolly, "Haha! No thanks, guys. I need a little time alone."

It's nice to know that they'd care enough to invite me with them... But still... 

"Oh? With who, Garet," teased Sheba, "With... Jenna!"

Ivan and Mia immediately cracked up in near tears, but Jenna was not amused. "_What??_ Never! Not in a billion years!"

"Oh, relax, Jenna! The whole world will fly on rocks before you two could get together! Besides, we all know that you'd never leave Isaac!"

Isaac and Jenna both turned tomato red at the comment. _Maybe I should leave..._Among the gentle teasing at the star-crossed lovers, Garet slipped off to find his own place to settle, with his well-known fake smile plastered on his face like dried glue. Felix was the only one to notice that he was gone.

Garet found himself at a small clearing in the forest, small enough that only the tiniest hints of sunshine beamed down to reflect in a small, clear puddle of a pond, apparently untouched by the darkness created by the over-crowded trees.

It suited Garet's mood perfectly.

Slowly, inch by inch, the fake smile peeled off, the happy glint in his eyes faded to reveal Garet as a shell of who he once was. He kneeled on his dark trousers, disregarding the dirt and mud for a better look in his reflection. The happiness once there gave up to hollowness and left his face dark, troubled, and angry. He stared at his reflection for a moment more as he began to reflect on himself, in the quiet, eerie silence of the gloomy forest.

_Life is harsh and unfair to all of us,_

_Be you a poor peasant or hero of the world,_

_And no matter what you do, time will rust_

_And leave you as no more than a shadow of what you once was._

_Despite all the cheers of the crowds,_

_Screaming at the top of their lungs as we appear in Tolbi,_

_No one even bothers to glance at me._

_Many of them see me as the brute and Isaac as the commander of an army,_

_A soldier and his general, a pirate and his captain._

_Everyone looks at the "hero" of the group, Isaac the Invincible._

_Despite the fact that we are a team, Isaac gets the credit of all our feats._

_Don't get me wrong, Isaac DOES try to disregard this,_

_But he's so quiet that people just run right past it._

_Even so, a few handfuls of people cheer for the "underdogs"._

_Ivan and Sheba are practically the gods of the younger teens,_

_Mia and Picard are the healing idols of many men and women,_

_And Jenna, of course, gets the second place of glory as the love interest,_

_And the adoration of men and admiration of girls everywhere._

_And what recognition do I get?_

_None._

_Nada. Zip. Nothing. Zilch._

_Why?_

_I'm the brute. I'm the buff dude with the pointy hair._

_I've even heard of people who want me kicked off the team._

_Like you **could **be kicked off!_

_Apparently, my presence is "dirtying" the almighty, holy light of the others._

_I'm a piece of trash in paradise, a peasant in the circle of nobility,_

_A smudge of dirt on their boots._

_They don't even know **half** of the things I did for the team._

_Who beat Saturous and Menardi when the Isaac, Ivan, and Mia went down?_

_I did._

_Who cut down so many monsters with a broadsword that the sword has a red tint to it?_

_I did!_

_And who constantly has to live in the shadows of his "betters" because of the public?_

_I do!_

_Of course, as such is the case of this never- ending chaos called our lives,_

_It doesn't end there._

_Maybe its because I'm a klutz,_

_Or because I'm the strongest._

_Maybe it's because of the media's ideas of us._

_I'm even seen on my OWN GROUP as a clown!_

_I'm a klutz and some guy who eats all their food,_

_I'm a dude with no purpose and does nothing,_

_I cause trouble and I'm an idiotic moron!_

_Guess what world?_

_I'm a FOOL!_

_That's right, a fool!_

_Shall I dance for you all while singing a song?_

_Shall I parade with a grin on my face while hiding my humiliation?_

"_Dear gods, he knows how to say humiliation!_

_But he's the fool!_

_He can't even spell that!"_

_A fool I am, and a fool I remain._

_God forbid that I do something grand,_

_Which would only mean dumb luck._

_God forbid I save Isaac,_

_It would be a fluke._

_Hah._

_And in the stories, you know how they say the hero gets the girl?_

_Apparently, I'm no hero because I'm right here with no girls around._

_No, of course not._

_The hero is Isaac, and he gets the girl._

_Of course, as it must be a fate created by the gods, _

_He took the one girl I might have actually loved._

_This would be Jenna. You heard it from her yourself:_

"What?? Never! Not in a billion years!"

_Oh, that hit deep, Jenna. Real deep._

_But you know what's the worst part?_

_She loves him too!_

_She does! I saw them kissing by accident myself!_

_I got yelled at and scorned by her,_

_But I kept up the façade of happiness._

_Why?_

_If I didn't, Isaac would worry about me._

_We just can't have the leader get worried, could we?_

_Even worse, he'd ask what's wrong. What would I say?_

"_Oh, you just took the one girl I might love and she hates my guts."_

_Yeah, that would have ended well. The media would even scorn me again._

_Grr. Stupid media._

_Hold on a second, what was that?_

_Maybe she teases me but loves me?_

_Pfft. Don't get your hopes up._

_If she DID love you,_

_Why would she choose Isaac?_

_If she did love you,_

_Then why hasn't she said ONE NICE THING TO ME?_

_After I traveled all over Weyward to save her butt!_

_I spent that day watching Jenna adore Isaac,_

_Ignoring my sorrow and agony of unrequited love._

_I wasn't the hero. I don't deserve love._

_That why Jenna and I have drifted apart._

_She probably doesn't notice,_

_Since she's too busy eyeballing her "dear hero" while I lie in the dust._

_Isaac **better** know how lucky he is._

_The only one who knows of this is Felix,_

_Although I'm sure Sheba is starting to pick up on it._

_Picard is trying hard to be my friend too, but that's out of sympathy._

_I made Felix promise not to tell._

_I couldn't stand to break their "perfect little relationship"_

_Or my best friend's heart._

_Or, even if she locked the door on me and left me in the rain,_

_Jenna's either._

_Who am I to say they don't deserve their happiness?_

_I AM just a fool._

_But one day, Jenna will realize that I DO have feelings,_

_Especially concerning her._

_People WILL realize that I have a part in this tale,_

_Despite my clumsiness and strength._

_One day, people will realize that I'm no toy,_

_No one to play with or wrap around your finger._

_One day..._

_Why not start today?_

Felix POV

Felix was setting up the camp of the large party when he heard Jenna turn Garet down heartlessly, although without knowing how badly that got to Garet: "What?? Never! Not in a billion years!" He turned around to look at Garet's expression as they joke about the relationship. Garet made a brave face, but the experienced Felix saw his heart smash into even smaller pieces than the glass slivers he had left.

His sister might have gone too far, even if unwillingly. _If only she knew..._

He waited for the heart-broken man to leave the group before giving his usual stare at his teammates, especially on Jenna.

"Stop fooling around and get back to work. We need to get the camp ready."

Isaac shot him a look of gratitude, obviously not knowing why he really stopped the embarrassment, but his girlfriend was only a few steps closer. She returned his look with a look of her own.

What's up with you? 

Felix gave her a quick, although stern glare before returning to setting up the camp tents.

Jenna POV

_What was THAT about, _thought Jenna, _What did I do wrong?_

_Sheba was trying to pair me up with-_

_Oh._

_THAT._

_Maybe I was a little harsh on him. But he's changed since Vale. Of course, he's older and more... spiky-haired, but it's like he **changed**. Of course I was glad to see him, but after the reunion..._

_Oh. I never DID show my gratitude, did I?_

_Well, Isaac is the leader so he saved me... Right?_

Besides, ever since the reunion, he seemed to distance himself, even more after Isaac and I started going out...

_Oh no._

_Could Garet actually **LIKE **me?_

_No way! That spiky-haired buff boy only cares about food... But maybe that changed too... Felix DID comment before on how Garet always puts up with my constant teasing because we're like family..._

_Right?_

Jenna straightened up from the labor of getting the pans out of the bag. She looked around from her new height to find Garet, but didn't see him anywhere.

"Where did he go off to?"

"He went into the woods. Why?" Felix stood up and stretched after the arduous task of nailing in the tents to the ground.

"No reason. Just... curious. I never noticed him leave the group before."

Felix muttered something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like: Probably because you're too busy drooling over Isaac. Jenna glared at him.

"What was that?"

"Nothing that you'd care about. He'll be back soon... And Jenna?"

"Yeah?"

"Stop being so mean to him. He IS Isaac's best friend." Felix moved away a couple of feet to attack another challenge: Starting a fire without magic.

_What if he DID say that I was too busy drooling over Isaac? What is THAT supposed to mean? Am I missing something here?!_

Shaking out these impossible questions out of her head, she went over to her brother and stared the fire, using Flume.

Jenna found herself staring at the fire late that night staring into the red- orange flames that danced and leapt into the sky with a passion she never saw before in anything else.

Sheba and Ivan were the first to retire, being the youngest and using most of their energy today, and then Mia went after healing the party of some wounds from random monster attacks. Picard left soon after that with Felix to play a few card games before they took watch and Isaac tried to stay up with the fire witch, but she sent him to bed after fighting all day.

So Jenna was alone with her thoughts, staring into a fire of her own creation, when she heard the unmistakable footfalls of boots. Garet's boots.

She scrambled up and almost stared at the Garet before her. His face was in shadows, not caused by the night, and his eyes dark and emotionless. He sat down at the fire, sitting not quite next to her but not far enough to look back at her through the flames. Jenna nervously licked her lips.

"Garet..."

"Hmm?" He answered, not quite unkindly but not with a lot of enthusiasm. It was like hearing Felix when he was hiding behind the mask... Monotonous.

"I'm... I'm sorry for what I said earlier. I didn't mean to sound so harsh, but... You and me? Together? They must have been high on mushrooms." Normally, this would have gotten at least a grin from Garet, or even a laugh, but he didn't so much as look up from the fire.

"Yeah. Impossible." He moved to get up, towering over Jenna, but not moving his gaze from the flames. "You can go now. I got the watch."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

Jenna paused halfway to her tent. "Garet?"

"Yeah?" Another emotionless answer.

"Is something wrong? Is there anything you'd like to tell me or Isaac?"

"... No. Just go to bed, I'm fine." He sat back down again, carefully averting her gaze with the flames.

_Why did he pause, _Jenna wondered as she reached her tent, _What happened to the Garet I once knew?_

_Poor, poor Jenna. Just a **wee** bit slow when it comes to these things. Oh well. In the next chapter, we'll be seeing how the rest of the party notes this new Garet!_

_READ AND REVIEW!!_

_ Dragon Scales 13_


	3. Unease

_**The Silent Fool**_

_**A/N: Sorry for being SO SLOW! I had up to Ch. 5 written down, but I've been too lazy to type it up. X.x Anyway, I don't have much time with a pounding headache, but thank you all! (Oh, and don't worry: Garet will do something WORSE than offing himself… off.)**_

_**Chapter III: Unease**_

_Today has been an… odd day. I woke up in the middle of the night and saw Garet taking watch. I asked if it was my turn, but he sent me back to bed! Garet NEVER does that! And to top it off, he hasn't said a thing to anyone today! I'm starting to worry about him…  
__Ivan_

_Whew! I'm exhausted! Garet was a monster in battle before, but now he's on a rampage! He just threw himself in the midst of the little devils and slaughtered them all in a bloodlust! Jenna and I did our best with his wounds, but there's a lot of them. Since when did Garet become so… Violent?  
__Mia_

_Strange things are happening around here. Garet's been getting more violent for some reason and Isaac and Jenna are worried. We're ALL worried. It's like someone took Garet… Wait, Jenna was up late last night. Could she have something to do with it?  
__Sheba_

_I just don't get it. I really don't get it. Garet seems to be going through a turbulent stage in his life, but now he seems to be shoving everyone away, even Felix. Isaac and I are really worried about him.  
__Picard_

_I'm concerned about Garet. He gets more and more violent everytime I see him. It's not like him to be so cruel to his foes. What happened to him?  
__Isaac_

_What did I do wrong? Garet's been going PSYCHO and I know I'm the cause. Why is it that everything I say comes back to hit me in the face? Why am I so cruel to Garet? **Why?  
**__Jenna_

_It looks like Garet finally snapped- and the worst way POSSIBLE. He's getting out of control! He's distancing himself from even Jenna, even if she tries to apologize! It may just be too late for my little sister…  
__Felix_

_-Okay guys! You know the drill! Major surprise in the next chapter, the one where Garet does the unthinkable! Read and Review for the nut typing this thing-_

_Dragon Scales 13_


	4. A Solution to the Pain

-1**The Silent Fool**

**A Garet/Jenna Romance**

_Sorry for the extremely long wait… I've been learning about my new computer and losing a lot of story sheets… Including this one's plot line. . _

_Chapter 4: A Solution to the Pain_

Night had fallen upon the camp, covering the sky in a rich midnight cloak set with bright white starbursts. The trees stood tall and still, only shifting when the wind sifted through their leaves, with a sort of dry laziness that spoke of a warm day to come.

Garet, lying back on a soft patch of grass, wide awake and silent, had no time to admire the scenery.

He had a far more pressing problem in mind.

_I have to get out of here. _In a surprisingly quiet movement for such a large man, Garet pushed himself upright until he stood, a dark outline against the sky.

_I can't stay bitter forever… At least, not with everyone around. I'm of no use anymore; I'm bringing down the team._

Even as he thought it, he knew the real reason: He would ruin Jenna's happiness if he stuck around. She would probably be much happier with her hero than the village idiot. So he had to go, get out of the picture before he could permanently wedge himself between them.

He honestly loved her that much. They might miss him, but at least they would have a shot at happiness.

_And where does that leave me,_ he wondered, allowing himself the briefest feeling of pain before his customary numbness settled in.

_It doesn't matter. As long as she's happy, I can live with myself._

Garet shuffled in silence along the edge of camp, stooping over occasionally as he gathered the barest necessities for his escape, even giving a wide berth to his teammates as he delved into the woods, leaving them behind, maybe even forever.

_Goodbye, Jenna…_


	5. Magic Act

The Silent Fool

Chapter 5: Magic Act

AN: I'm giving up the whole thought pieces and marching right into the hard part…

Magic Act

Jenna shuffled tiredly out of her tent, weakly raising a hand to block the bright, warm day that seeped through the sky unto the camp as day broke, and the birds sung softly to themselves as they prepared for the day. Stretching herself out, the fire adept shook herself awake, armor donned and staff in hand. Within seconds, Mia and Picard greeted her from the remains of the fire. Picard glanced quickly to the side, eyes catching onto the slightest of movements as Felix emerged from his tent, immediately followed by Ivan and Sheba. The two wind adepts looked even more tired than she was, but Felix- in his own classic tough guy way was well awake and looked raring to go. The last up was Isaac, who never failed to wake up a full 15 minutes later than he really should.

Jenna smiled at her boyfriend- who smiled back slightly in his early morning exhaustion, and then she looked around for the one member that had the most reliable habit of waking up too early.

Garet.

Contrary to popular belief, Garet was an early riser. He never failed to wake up at least an hour before anyone else to train, wash up, or simply watch the dawn break. _Good old Garet, _she thought, wandering around the camp in search, _never sleeping, always moving._

But today, she couldn't find him. At first, she thought that he may have gone off to find a clearing, but that thought died as she stumbled upon his tent.

There was no trace that he ever slept in his tent in the first place. The bedroll was still laid out- a huge one for his big frame, and there was no note left around to tell of his location. However, most of his things were gone, mostly necessities that made roughing it a little easier. Wherever he went, he only took along a few potions and ethers with him, leaving most of them behind.

It was like he vanished.

_VANISHED._

It was only then that the full horror of it struck her, forcing her to reevaluate that weird dream she had last night, the one she lost sleep to.

_ Jenna blinked slowly in the twilight, staring blankly up as she wondered what could wake her at an hour like this, wondering vaguely if she should shout and awake the others. The sound- a dry rustling paused outside of her tent, invisible, and hesitated before moving on into the direction of the forest._

_It was probably some kind of animal, she thought, but she couldn't sleep well after that…_

What if that wasn't an animal? What if it was Garet? What if he was hurt or kidnapped, or dying somewhere and she had no clue where he was? Or…

_What if Garet ran away?_

Ten minutes later, Isaac and Picard sat grimly inside Felix's tent as Jenna recounted the story, Picard nodding at pauses. It took Isaac a long moment to say anything into the silence.

"Why?" Mia, who stared worriedly at the canvas wall, looked up in surprise. "Why would he run away," Isaac continued, staring at his boots.

No one answered. Everyone knew exactly why Garet would run away, or at least part of it.

They treated him like crap. The teasing, the poking, the boasting… They didn't really mean it as it sounded, but they said it anyway. After all that time, the whole shame of it must have broken his resolve…

They made him run.

Suddenly, Felix's voice rose up in the tent. "I think we know why." Leaving Isaac confused and Jenna irked, he swept out of the tent in a cold rage.

_ What? I mean, I've always teased Garet, it was kind of our thing…_

_ He's a man now, Jenna, _her mind argued softly, _But you've never treated him like one. To you, he was always that buffoon he was in Vale._

She couldn't argue with that.

"I… Well, we," corrected Sheba, gesturing to Ivan, "thought we heard a thought in our dreams." Sheba shrank slightly under the depressed, or in Picard's case tired, stares she received. Ivan nodded and took it up for her.

"It felt like a goodbye but…" His shoulders dropped. "It was… There were many emotions in it. Determination, resolve, bitterness, depression… And…" He trailed off, not sure if he really wanted to say it.

"And," Picard pressed, not letting either one avoid his gaze.

"We may be wrong," Sheba warned, glancing nervously at Jenna. "We think we heard him say 'love'."

_ He WHAT?_ Jenna, unable to fight the growing dread feeling that stuck to her since last night, forced the words to a question she desperately didn't want to know about.

"Who… Who did he say goodbye to?"

The two wind adepts averted their gazes almost simultaneously, knowing that the other didn't want to have to say it either, even more so in Sheba's mind, where everything started to click together in a most brutal, heartbreaking chain of occurrences…

Though everyone saw the teens' reactions, no one but Jenna really understood what they tried to tell her. In fact, she realized, it was something Garet, Felix, and possibly Picard tried to tell her all along, each one with their own way and their own amount of knowledge on the problem.

_How could I have been so blind…_

Garet left because of her actions, her own deeds that she mistook for a joke or simply friendly banter.

_The way he became so distant… The pain in his eyes… The way he began to avoid her and Isaac…_

_Could it be that…_

_No, it couldn't… Could it?_

Jenna didn't know what to think. The flurry of information and connections spun themselves into a web she could not decipher, a riddle with no true clues.

_Did he mean to say…_ She couldn't bring herself to think it, feeling the wrongness of thinking it without him here, as he always was... But not now.

_We were friends… Once Isaac and I dated, he drifted… I might have made him a third wheel..._

_Yes, it wasn't that he lo- No, don't think that._

_Why won't you think it,_ she wondered vaguely, now starting to see herself in a new light.

What exactly was she hiding from herself? From everyone? Why did it bother her to think that Garet might have… fallen for someone?

"We'll start a search," interrupted Picard, effectively killing her epiphanies. Silently, Jenna was grateful, terrified of what she would find.

Isaac shook his head somberly, face drawn at the loss, "We can't." He didn't look up from everyone's stares, choosing to slowly shake his head again. "We can't go looking for him. I love Garet as I would my brother," he said, looking up. His eyes were dark and saddened, and he looked pale in the light, as if he was just a husk.

"We just can't… If he…" Isaac's voice broke, but his face was set in stone, "If he doesn't return, then we'll have to go on without him."

(BAM! There! Finished the next chapter, and its longer, so now complaining!)


	6. Devestation

_**The Silent Fool**_

_**Chapter 6: Devestation**_

_(Sorry for the delay… But you don't want to hear my life story; onward!)_

Garet vaguely noticed the air was becoming warmer as he approached Xian, a small town with a penchant for honor in a world where it seems to mean nothing. _Not that I should be talking._ He paused for a moment, feeling indecision wash over him once again. Unbidden, his eyes rose to the noon sky. It was hard to believe anyone could suffer on such gentle scenery. For a moment, he closed his eyes and simply breathed in nature. The sound of bees working their way along scattered flowers, the soft whisper of a breeze weaving through ankle-high grass- it was moments like this that cleared Garet's mind. The heartbreak, sorrow, anger… It almost seemed trivial now-

** FWOM! **

Garet's brown eyes shot open and instinctively unsheathed his broadsword, body singing with tension as powerful muscles bulged and tightened. His teeth gritted, the warrior looked around him in a red haze, preparing for trouble. Still, it took him a moment to finally look up.

Psyenergy wound its way into the sky above the straw-hatched huts of Xian, sparks almost randomly falling out to attach themselves to sun-dry and incredibly flammable homes, casting a smoky haze to what _was _going to be a cloudy day in summer. The fireball above deepened to a rapid red- orange- yellow that seemed to fluctuate with a rising wind that literally tore burning straw from buildings and chucked them to ignite others.

A psyenergy _FIRESTORM_.

Almost without thought, Garet tore off along the meadow, hearing nature's reaction all along him, the flowers crunching under his boots and bees screeching to each other as they abandoned their labors. He pushed his away down the final incline, coaxing more speed, as fast as he could without falling over and stabbing himself, earth and greenery flying away behind him.

"Garet!" The warrior slid to a halt, scattering loose chunks of dry dirt and vegetation in an effort to regain control. He stopped just short of impaling the middle-aged inn keeper by accident. The man swallowed visibly, alternating his glances between Garet's armor, which probably needed to be refitted- yet again, and his broadsword as he spoke in quick, rapid bursts, fear coloring his eyes near-white.

"I-It's here!… It m-must have been released… I… I thought-" He dropped to his knees and held his head in his hands, crying and sobbing to himself while shaking uncontrollably. "I… I'm so sorry…"

Garet knelt in front of him, taking the man's shoulders with his large hands, ripping him tightly. "What was released?" He urged him with a sharp edge in his voice, giving him no chance to dodge the question. They didn't have time to calm down- every second lost meant lives being destroyed. He needed answers NOW.

The man's eyes went to tiny pinpricks, staring into his blankly, devoid of emotion as he paled to pure white. "That monster… The monster was guarding-" He suddenly stopped, eyes bulging out of his head in what might have been a comical fashion, if not for the red liquid dripping out of his stomach. He slumped dead, unseeing, and the blade was pulled out with little problem. Garet looked up-

To stare into a reflection of himself. It had his hair, his eyes, and even his body, though less muscular, dressed in typical Xian clothing, a robe of inconspicuous brown.

His dark double smiled, a horrible expanse of sharp teeth and prepared to swing at him. Garet finally pulled his eyes away from it and just blocked in time to live another moment. The clone growled and pushed hard at him, attempting to overpower him from a higher position. Garet found himself drawn to its gaze, a blood-thirsty expanse of soulless eternity and insanity threatening to suck him in, forever and ever. Sensing his blade shifting onto him, Garet snapped back into focus and fought on both fronts- his battle, and his mind. Garet's warm brown eyes suddenly went stony and he shoved the clone back hard, making it stumble, and he came to his feet, ready and awaiting its next move.

It screeched in a voice far too much like his own and silenced as fast as it started. Its head cocked to one side briefly before growling at him meaningfully.

**We'll continue this later, mortal.**

Garet shivered as a cold, freezing wind swept over him.

The monster was gone, and in the distance, he could see villagers, torches and hands held ready to cast.

Garet opened his mouth and suddenly snapped it shut. He could see it through their eyes- a firey red-head, a reddened sword, a dead villager…

He's just been framed. Garet leaned over for a moment to close the inn keeper's eyes, silently wishing him well. He glanced up at the incoming villagers, and did, again, something he never would have expected of himself, brave, unconquerable Garet.

He ran away.

(BAM! There! It required a bit of Linkin Park, but its here. I knew I wanted Garet to be framed of a mass homicide, but I couldn't decide what actually caused it. At first, I wanted it to be because of a bandit raid, but it wouldn't have made sense for the village to blame him. All I could think of was someone who looked just like him, but I needed something a little more… dramatic. -() The question is, what am I going to use this… immortal for? I think I may have an idea, but if you guys have anything interesting, then by all means, toss 'em to me.)


End file.
